Religion - New Testament Test 1

Who were the Sadducees?

Priestly sect in Judaism

Acted as scribes and the social elite

What are some aspects of the Sadducees?

They maintained the temple and had the responsibility of temple priests (claimed they originated-debated with other sects like Romans)

Selected a high priest which they served

Connect to Sanhedrin/Jewish Council

Who were the Pharisees?

Wealthy teachers-seen as upper class (though received pay from people in exchange for their services)

Pharisee word meaning: set apart, saw themselves as a separate party

What were some aspects of the Pharisees?

Remained with the true law and purity laws (believed other Jewish people fell off of course)

Viewed as experts of law

Strict adhere to letter of the law

Who were the Essenes?

A Jewish sect who lived lives of ritual

purity and separation

What were some aspects of the Essenes?

Saw tainted nature of the city world, left civilization to live in the wilderness

Tried to rid themselves of sin in the material world

Men and women would not engage in sexual intercourse (believed to be filthy)

Ritual washes

Wished to be redeemed by not falling into same pitfalls as other Jews had with daily conventions

Who were the Zealots?

The Zealots were a religious militant group

What were some aspects of the Zealots?

Wanted to violently take over Roman authority and evict them from Israel

View on Messiah was a soldier or military figure to slay their enemies, free them from Roman bondage, and protect them from other threats

Tired of invasions from Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans

Wanted to cast all these groups out of their Holy City

What was the Jewish view on tax collectors? Why?

Saw Jewish tax collectors as sinners because they were taking or robbing money from their own and giving it over to the enemy, the Romans

Who is the Jesus of History?

Jesus existed just in history, objective, facutal

Josephus - Christ of History

Work for Rome stating how Jesus was a wonder worker, wandering physician, teacher

Suetonius - Christ of History

Come up with "Christos" - Greek word meaning savior

Tacitus - Christ of History

Roman historian who hated everyone and told the truth about Christianity

Pliny the Younger - Christ of History

Ask Roman emperor what should be done about Christians

Who is Christ of Faith?

Existed beyond history, belief in miracles, belief in resurrection

Matthew - Christ of Faith in the Gospels

Jesus is the Messiah, the Gentiles accepted Jesus but not the Jews, and Jesus = "New Moses"

Mark - Christ of Faith in the Gospels

Jesus is the savior, suffering servant

Luke - Christ of Faith in the Gospels

Good news is for everyone

John - Christ of Faith in the Gospels

Loyalty willing to bear witness for the Christian teaching

Similarities in the Christ of History and Christ of Faith

Jesus existed

Teacher/healer

Centered in Middle East

Disturbance under Pontius Pilate Reign

Centered around Jesus

Jesus' Crucifixion

Testament

Covenant, promise

Who is Josephus?

Jewish historian and Pharisee

Wrote 60 years after Jesus' death

Talks about disturbances during the reign of Judea Pontius Pilate

Centered around Jesus (referred to as wise, wonder doer and teacher of men)

Explains that the man (Jesus) crucified by Pilate

Christian sympathizer, but no evidence that he was a Christian

Who is Tacitus?

Roman writer believed the Christians to be perverse (awkward)

Calls Judea home of disease (reinforces this saying this is where all the filth ends up)

Talks about Nero and the Christians

64 AD Nero burns Rome and blames the Christians

Nero crucifies Christians and lights them on fire and uses them as torches

Nero would wrap them in bloody animal skins and feed them to hungry dogs

Who is Suetonius?

Historian and lawyer (wrote around 120 CE)

Writes biographies

Explains there was a group of Christians led by a man named Christos

Who is Pliny the Younger?

Governor of Roman providence in Asia Minor (110 CE)

Wrote letters asking emperor what he should do with the group of Christians and their strange customs

What conclusion can be drawn based on the presence of sources outside the Gospels?

Since there was evidence that Jesus actually existed outside of the Gospels, it gave more of a foundation to the religion as a whole and gave people more faith and belief in Jesus

Nero and the Christians

Nero had a penchant for terrorizing Christians

Three things he did to the Christians:

Blamed Christians for burning of Rome

Crucify Christians during the day and light them on fire during the night

Wrap Christians in bloody animal skins and feed to hungry dogs

What are 3 things that marked the Christians as peculiar?

1. Eucharist and last supper - cannibals feasting on dead criminal leader

2. Hiding underground and performing rituals in catacombs to avoid persecution-it was believed they were eating the dead since they ate the "body and blood" of dead leader

3. Symbol of fish to identify one another (Apostles were fishermen, saw themselves as fish men caught after being called by Christ, Ichthys Greek for Jesus Christ Son of God savior)-believed to be gang symbols

Catholic

Means "Universal"

Luke addressed his gospel to everyone

Jesus has open arms on crucifix

Gospel

Means "Good News"

How many books are in the New Testament?

27 Gospels

Includes: Gospels, Writings, Epistles (Latin for Letters), Book of Revelation (Apocalypse)

Written from 50-100 CE

What does AD mean?

AD means Anno Domini - "In the year of the Lord"

AD CORRESPONDS TO CE (COMMON ERA)

What does BC mean?

BC means before Christ

BCE (BEFORE COMMON ERA) CORREPONDS TO BC

What does Synoptic mean?

Appears the same/similar, or seen together

What gospels are considered part of the Synoptic texts and why?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke because they reinforce similar idea, seem to reference other Gospels to help them in composing their own

Christ

Greek for anointed one/savior

"Christos"

Messiah

Hebrew for anointed one/savior

What are the 4 Gospels?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Matthew's Audience

and Unique portrait

Jewish Christians

Portrays Jesus as the Messianic King who fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies

Mark's Audience and Unique portrait

Roman Christians (Gentile Christians)

Focuses on Jesus' deeds and portrays him as the suffering servant who came to serve and sacrifice

Luke's Audience and Unique portrait

The educated Greek Christians

Shows Jesus as the compassionate Savior for all the people but especially the poor and the ones that sin

John's Audience and Unique Portrait

Both Jews and Christians (Gentiles)

Emphasizes Jesus as the son of God and shows that Jesus' miracles are signs of his divine nature

What is the 2nd part of Luke's work called?

Acts of the Apostles - 2nd book of the Gospel of Luke, which talks about the early coming of the Holy Spirit, and the work of the Apostles, majorly focusing on Peter and Paul